HOWB 087 – Interview | Doug Hylan, Wooden Boat Designer & Builder, Brooklin, ME - 05.16.13

Today’s interview is with Doug Hylan, owner of D.N. Hylan & Associates in Brooklin, Maine. Doug grew up north of Boston with the allure of a small lake in his neighborhood. He was fascinated by boats and at an early age finished building a skiff that his dad and brother had only partially completed. Being on a small budget Doug got creative and made sails out of fabric he found at the local dump. With that small skiff he learned to sail on the local lake (even though he couldn’t swim and there were no life jackets).

As an adolescent, Hylan spotted catamaran plans in a Popular Mechanics magazine and built her in the family’s cellar. This boat was a disappointing design for Doug, but he used her anyway and enhanced his boatbuilding skills. After attending college to study bio chemistry while dabbling in hippie homesteading, he moved to Maine and took a job with Jimmy Steele. Jim was a residential contractor who built peapod boats on the side. Doug was intrigued by the peapod design, and Jim allowed him to make the sailing rigs as the orders came in.

Next Doug took a job with Joel White (founder of Brooklin Boat Yard) for a couple winters, then became a partner at Benjamin River Marine, where he worked on restoration and construction of wooden vessels. In 1998 he started D.N. Hylan & Associates where he specializes in the construction, restoration, and design of wooden boats.

Doug has studied the designs of, and has refurbished boats by the late Herreshoffs (N.G. and his son L. Francis). Doug incorporates Herreshoff principles into the designs of his own boats.

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You can contact me at woodenboatdan@gmail.com to share your comments, feedback, stories, and wooden boat adventures.

Keep the bright side up and the barnacled side down - Wooden Boat Dan over and out :D

PS Please note this podcast was recorded several years ago - some of the links, email addresses, phone numbers, and promos mentioned are outdated and no longer valid.